02-19-2026 Ten Weeks by Ship Along the China Coast with Grant Rhode

Thursday, February 19, 4 PM – 5:30 PM
121 Bay State Road, Boston MA

Please register here.

Grant Rhode, BU maritime historian and China analyst, will share his experiences while lecturing along the China coast, visiting ten of the world’s largest ports. He will also discuss his research agenda at Beijing Language and Culture University from 2026 to 2028.

Grant Rhode teaches and researches at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University where he is Senior Fellow in the International History Institute and Research Affiliate of the Center for the Study of Asia. He is also Associate in Research at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. Concurrently, he is Wutong Chair Professor at the College of Sinology and China Studies of Beijing Language and Culture University, responsible for teaching and research in China during fall semesters 2025-2028. He was formerly Adjunct Professor at the U.S. Naval War College and Visiting Scholar at the National Taiwan University.

Dr. Rhode’s current research focuses on China’s role in contemporary and historical Eurasian maritime affairs. On the contemporary front, his forthcoming book with Pardee School co-editors is Investigating the Belt and Road: The World According to China and China According to the World (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2026). Since 2019, he has directed Boston University’s program Assessing China’s Belt and Road Initiative. On the historical front, his recent book is Great Power Clashes Along the Maritime Silk Road: Lessons from History to Shape Current Strategy (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2023). Other recent publications include “Shi Lang’s Amphibious Conquest of Taiwan in 1683” (2024), “Tasting Gall: Chiang Kai-Shek and China’s War with Japan” (2022), “China’s Emergence as a Power in the Mediterranean: Port Diplomacy and Active Engagement” (2021), “China, Global History, and the Sea” (2020), “Mongol Invasions of Northeast Asia: Korea and Japan” (2020), and “By Land and By Sea: China’s Belt and Road in Europe” (2019).

In addition to his academic career, Dr. Rhode had a career in business entrepreneurship in which he was founder and CEO of three firms in the construction industry. As a public lecturer, he is Viking Resident Historian aboard Viking Ocean Cruise ships in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Coral, and China Seas.

Recent teaching at the Pardee School:

Diplomacy & Statecraft
The Sea in International Relations
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific Region